In 2020, the pandemic precipitated a mass migration event of well-heeled New Yorkers to the swanky beach towns of the Hamptons on Long Island. But the reality of in-person schooling and return-to-office mandates means the city expats of 2020 and 2021 are heading back to their normal lives this year, leaving behind a slew of problems — like a punishing labor shortage and exacerbated housing crisis — in their wake.

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A total of nine title insurance and settlement services providers were named to the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest growing private companies for 2022. In 2021, 12 firms made the list. The self-reported list is comprised of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in the U.S. based on percentage revenue growth from 2018 to 2021. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2018. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent–not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies–as of December 31, 2021. The minimum revenues required are $100,000 for 2018 and $2 million for 2021.

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Week Ending June 3, 2022

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Whether a property owned by two or more tenants-in-common can be partitioned “in kind,” i.e., by physically dividing the real estate or other property interest, or by subjecting it to a judicial sale, or even whether the property may be subject to partition at all, are issues that courts must decide when the property’s majority and minority owners are strongly divided on whether the property should be divided or sold.

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Recent research I did on a case led me to the conclusion that Arizona law recognizes foreign litigation (i.e., a lawsuit filed outside of Arizona) as a justification for the recording of a lis pendens against real property located within Arizona. See TWE Retirement Fund Trust v. Ream, 198 Ariz. 268 (Ct. App. 2000). Apparently, there’s some debate about whether foreign litigation can support a local lis pendens. 

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An old guard Diamond District landlord is pulling out every stop to slow Gary Barnett’s planned hotel in the jewelry mecca. His latest move is almost too bizarre to believe.

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In the Estate of Terry Banta presents yet another purported Texas land transaction doomed because of disregard for the Statute of Frauds. Terry Banta and the Herriotts entered into an oral agreement for the Herriotts to purchase a piece of property from Banta. In an unfortunate turn of events for everyone, Banta died before signing the written contract that would have memorialized the sale.

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California is a state that doesn’t shy away from being unique. From its avant-garde fashion sense to its relaxed oceanside attitude, California is a state that marches to the beat of its own drum. California introduces new laws every year, and when it comes to real estate, the state has some pretty strange legal eccentricities that homeowners will want to keep up with. Here are a couple of the oddest real estate laws in The Golden State.

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Of the many projects designed to provide a more tangible way to experience the new possibilities of Web3, Decentraland might be the best yet. Despite the game’s technical shortcomings, this isn’t the type of game you can measure by most traditional metrics. It features simple graphics, sound, and gameplay that lags behind even the decades-old virtual worlds in Second Life. This raises the question: if it’s so behind-the-times, why bother playing Decentraland?

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After some years in the making, the UK register for overseas entities finally opened at Companies House on Monday 1 August 2022. Overseas entities that own registered land in the UK are now required to register at Companies House and provide information about their beneficial owners. 

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Johnnie Jackson has lived in his family’s St. Albans home for most of his life and owned it for nearly 30 years. First a convicted mortgage scammer took it from him, now a bank is still trying to snatch the property.

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A Thai zoo's escaped animal drill is going viral after photos and videos emerged showing a zoo employee in an ostrich costume fleeing from keepers.

The Chiang Mai Zoo posted photos to Facebook showing the employee, dressed in an ostrich costume and makeup, being chased through the facility's Africa Zone by zookeepers after simulating an escape from the zone's Show Area.

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The Northwest Angle, known simply as the Angle by locals, and coextensive with Angle Township, is a pene-exclave of northern Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota. Except for surveying errors, it is the only place in the contiguous United States north of the 49th parallel, which forms the border between the U.S. and Canada from the Northwest Angle westward to the Strait of Georgia (between the U.S. state of Washington and the province of British Columbia). 

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It’s been 50 years since humans last visited the Moon, and even robotic missions have been few and far between. But the Earth’s only natural satellite is about to get crowded.

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In Peru’s Pisco Valley, there is a strange alignment of thousands of shallow pits. The pits are arranged in a narrow band about 14 to 20 meters wide, that run up a hill for about 1,500 meters. Their purpose or function is a mystery.

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